College Football is the greatest spectator sport in America. Tailgating is an art form, sampling the local fare, traditions and partaking in a beverage or two is a must. Atmosphere is everything! If you don't attend a game, you can still tailgate right in the confines of your own man-cave. Enjoy the site!
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Sunday, December 1, 2019

The moniker of “Soft Californians” was on full display this
Saturday as our tailgate of originally 50 people dwindled to a mere dirty dozen
due to a few sprinkles and sub 50-degree weather. Not only was our tailgate a
reflection of the softness, but the Stanford stadium for the Notre Dame game
had less than 20,000 people in attendance. Most were rooting for Notre Dame.
Regardless of the size, we had a feast of egg and bacon sandwiches prepared on
my new 3-in-1 breakfast station, Italian Chili, meats and cheeses, bloody Mary
and Mimosa bars and an assortment of fresh fruit. Tents and heaters kept the elements
at bay as it only lightly rained for an hour. For the Dirty dozen that showed
up, you have my undue respect! This was my 9th time attending this game since 2001 having only missed the 2017 game. Most of the years we have been with the Iorios for the event.

The fellas, Maddalon terrorizing the kids, Amy and Maureen

The Panoviches, the kids, our Bloody Mary Sponsors, and the obligatory shot ski

Notre Dame was gunning for its third straight 10-win season
while Stanford is mired in their worst season in the David Shaw era. However,
in the first third of the game the script was flipped. Stanford dominated the
action as the Cardinal (a tree that a dog urinates on) stormed out to a 17-7
lead. And then the gravitational forces rotated. The tide turned in a big way
as Notre Dame QB Ian Book started finding All World Receiver Chase Claypool for a few
scores and a runaway performance. Notre Dame would run off 38 more pointsto Stanford’s 7 for a final score of 45-24.

Empty Stanford stadium

Around the Country, Rivalry Games

Auburn bested Alabama 48-45 in the Iron Bowl, knocking the
Tide out of the playoffs for the first time since the four-team format was
created in 2014. Oklahoma took care of little brother Oklahoma State in the
Bedlam Series game, keeping their chances alive to make the playoffs. In “The
Game” in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh got bullied again by the Buckeyes which raised more
questions about his future. Wisconsin beat Minnesota in the snow to not only
win Paul Bunyan’s axe but also a spot in the Big Ten championship game.
Elsewhere in rivalry games:

Bieber – In a game filled with sheer hatred for one another,
the Egg Bowl which pits Mississippi State against Ole Miss, has a history of
getting testy at times. With seconds to go, Ole Miss found themselves down by
seven points. They engineered a drive resulting in a touchdown pass from QB Matt
Corral to Elijah Moore to make the game a 21-20 contest with an extra point still
pending. In his celebration
after scoring,
Moore crawled on all fours to the back of the end zoneand
raised his leg mimicking a dog taking a leak. Immediately, the referees threw a
flag at him for unsportsmanlike behavior. This moved the PAT back 15 yards. No
longer a chip shot, the Ole Miss kicker lined up his kick and pulled it wide
right resulting in a 1-point loss. The loss was not the kickers fault, the
result lies squarely on the shoulders of the peeing dog Elijah Moore. This has to
be one of the biggest bone-headed on-field acts that I can recall with a meaningful game on the line. Young Elijah, you lost the game for your team. You lost the Egg Bowl. You lost
the respect of Ole Miss Nation. Your coach was fired after the loss. However,
you won a Bieber award and a new name for your team, Ole Piss!

Unemployment Report –

·Matt Luke out as HC at Ole Miss

·Charlie Strong out as HC at USF

·Texas fired its OC and DC

·Barry Odom ousted from Mizzou

·Clay Helton rumored to be fired to make room for
Urban Meyer at USC

·Steve Addazio bounced out at BC

·Chad Morris out at Arkansas

·Willie Taggart fired from Florida State

·Chris Ash sacked at Rutgers

·Bob Davie took a knee for New Mexico

·Tony Sanchez makes no more bets for UNLV

Next Week -I
will be attending a wedding on Saturday while watching Conference championship games
on my phone at the reception! In two weeks, I will return to the city of
brotherly love for the Army-Navy game. It is always a special event as we
tailgate with people from all stages of my life.

Monday, November 25, 2019

It is said that a road less traveled is a road worth
travelling. Thus, I made my college football pilgrimage to Lubbock, TX, this
weekend for the first time to watch the Texas Tech Red Raiders spar with the
Kansas State Wildcats. Lubbock sits in the middle of West Texas cotton and
cowboy country, a good five-hour drive from Dallas/Fort Worth. I would be
joined on this segment of my journey by daughter #2 and her beaux. We would
link up with Lubbock locals: my brother-in-law, his wife and daughter. Texas Tech plays in the Big 12 Conference, and once upon a time they
were part of the now defunct yet notorious Southwest Conference. Legendary
players such as Patrick Mahomes, Zach Thomas, Michael Crabtree, Danny Amendola
and Wes Welker graced the gridiron of Jones (AT&T) Stadium. Friday night
consisted of dining at Cap Rock café on Bison burgers and playing pool (very
poorly I may add) at Crickets on Broadway street, the campus bar area.

Friday Night Sights!

Saturday was a prototypical cool, crisp, sunny West Texas
big sky kind of day. We walked the famous Key on campus where there was plenty
of public tailgating with family-friendly activities and a live concert. We
were invited to attend the Matador Mafia tailgate in lot C4 on the NW side of
the stadium. I was connected with the primary host, Chris Evans, AKA Captain Americavia
social media. Chris played at TTU back in the late 80s under legendary coach
Spike Dykes. Chris went on to ride bulls professionally and has the medical
records to prove it. We were introduced to his crew, of which every other
person seemed to be named Chris including my brother-in-law. Chris Evans
prepared smoked brisket chili that was simply world class. My brother-in-law’s homemade top-secret recipe jerky made
its first appearance at one of my tailgates as well and was devoured quickly.
We all swapped stories and toasted a few cold ones. As the sun began to set, we
said our goodbyes to yet another group of people who will remain friends on
this incredible tailgating and football journey that I am on. Onward into the
magnificent stadium we strode.

Hanging with the Matador Mafia!

FireIceball? Forced to do the K State Claw for a pic, ladies of the tailgate, Me and #2 daughter.

Fun at the tailgate!

Jones stadium was erected in 1947 and has a current seating
capacity of 60,000+. It is immaculately laid out with gradually rising seats as
opposed to a steep incline. Plenty of concessions and beer were served inside. It
was once said that Texas Tech has the best home field advantage due to its
passionate fans. I considered wearing some Baker Mayfield schwag just to poke
the bear a bit, as he started his college football journey here before
transferring to OU for his legendary career rise. Needless to say, Baker is not
loved in West Texas. I digress. Texas Tech had a great pre-game show and player
entrance to the field as the sun lowered into the horizon beyond the western
bleachers of the stadium. We chose to purchase seats on the 40 in the upper
level of the East side. The Red Raiders have been in the midst of mediocrity
ever since the great Mike Leach was run out of town by Fake News trumped up by
Bieber HOFer Craig James. New head coach Matt Wells has a big challenge
competing against the likes of OU, TX, TAMU and TCU for the state’s top
players. The Red Raiders were sporting a record of 4-6 coming into Saturday’s
contest. Kansas State under first-year CoachChris Klieman has
had several signature wins this year against Oklahoma and Mississippi State and
came into the game bowl-eligible at 6-4.

Weekend at Bernies? The TTU Band, the DFT banner serving as warmth and the Lone Rider doing his thing.

Texas Tech’s “in game pageantry” and traditions are unparalleled in
college football. Chants of “guns up” with fingers mimicking a pistol and
shouts of “wreck ‘em Tech” can be heard throughout the game. The masked rider
will take the field on horseback after every Red Raider score. The most
interesting tradition is the throwing of tortillas throughout the stadium for certain
on-field situations which I am not entirely clear about. The first half seemed
less like a Big 12 game and more like an SEC smash mouth game as K State was only
able to muster up two field goals to Texas Tech’s one for a 6-3 halftime lead.
At halftime, we were treated to a Christmas song medley performance by the 400+
member “Goin Band from Raiderland.” Both offenses kicked into gear in the
second half as K State QB Skylar Thompson led the Cats on four scoring drives
for an additional 24 points. Texas Tech hung tough behind QB Jet Duffey for 25
points. So, doing the math, you see that K State won 30-28 in a well-played,
hard fought match. We stayed until just a few minutes remained on the clock
when it was apparent the outcome would not be altered. We journeyed onward to Chick-fil-A
and back to the hotel for a night cap and viewing of the late games. If you
have not been to a Texas Tech game, plan on an excursion out to Lubbock for a
fantastic college footballexperience.

That look when your future ex son in law comes back from the bathroom without a beer for Dan!

Around the Country - In the marquee game of the day in Columbus, Ohio, the
Buckeyes raced out to a 21-0 lead over Penn State in what appeared to be a
runaway game. Penn State however, showing the pride of the lions that they are
(see what I did there?), clawed back into the game with 17 unanswered points in
the second half. The Buckeyes behind Heisman Candidate Justin Fields would
score once more to secure a 28-17 victory. Out west in the PAC 12 in Tempe, Squirming
Herman Edwards and the Devils pulled off the upset of the day by silencing the
Ducks and taking them out of playoff contention. In other PAC 12 news, SUC
knocked off ACLU in the battle of LA LA Land. Over in the ACC, Florida
International must have been offended by being Miami’s homecoming opponent so
they took it upon themselves to embarrass and beat the Hurricanes. In the
battle for the Vatican, the Catholics from South Bend defrocked the Catholics
from Chestnut Hill 40-7. Navy ended SMU’s hope of a New Year’s Six Bowl by
corralling the Stangs in Annapolis in another nail-biter Naval victory. In
other Group of Five action, Boise, Memphis, Cincinnati and App State all kept
their hopes alive to win the honor of playing in a New Year’s Six Bowl game. In
“The Game,” Yale beat Harvard in double OT. More on this in Bieber. Lastly, the
Monte Vista Mustangs ended their 2019 campaign in a loss to national powerhouse
De La Salle. A shout out to the graduating seniors on this team, for many of
whom it may have been their last game. Hope to see the rest of ‘em playing on
Saturdays the next four years!

USF Cheer squad courtesy of the Major.

Uncanny resemblance between TTU OC David Yost and Harry Dunne

Bieber – There
were a lot of choices this week for Bieber honors such as the annual SEC cupcake
week, Tom Hermann head butting his helmeted player pre-game, my brother in law
leaving the Texas Tech game in the first quarter and me not coming to Norman
for the OU v TCU game. However, the award goes to a bunch of knuckleheads in
New Haven, CT, on Saturday. At halftime of the historic Harvard-Yale game, a
group of entitled, misinformed, hypocritical students from both schools
organized an on-field protest regarding something called “Climate Change.”
First and foremost, do your research. Natural disasters such as volcanoes and
forest fires do far more damage to the environment and the ozone layer than
thousands of years of man-made usage of fossil fuels. Debate me – I dare you to
prove me wrong. Second, how do you think these future Antifites got here to the
game? Did they walk, ride bikes, horses, Flintstone cars? No, they rode in
fossil fuel-generated transportation like cars, trains, planes or motorcycles.
And don’t forget, electrical plants are powered by fossil fuels. It’s not entirely
the students’ fault as they have been brainwashed by people even less intelligent
than them who should know better. “If you tell a big lie enough times it eventually
becomes the truth” so
said the biggest monster in the history of the world. Nonetheless, there were
about 150 students who occupied the field and delayed the second half by an
hour. The game was in danger of being postponed as there were not lights at the
Yale Bowl for this event. With the sun setting at 4:30 and the protest taking so
long, this was a real crisis. Eventually, security cleared most of the unwashed
from the field and arrested two dozen playdough-squeezing whiners and
incarcerated them for a few minutes. So, little Gen Xers, since you probably
love Justin Bieber, this may not be much of a slam to you, but us Boomers want
you to take your Beebs award and go to your crying rooms with it. Enjoy it Snowflakes!

Ginger – Nothing too over the top this week, but the
award goes to injured Youngstown State QB Nathan Mays who was basically carried
onto the field by two of his teammates so he could take his last official snap
of his career. Nathan, a red shirt senior, had a serious season-ending leg injury
three weeks ago. He really wanted to suit up for his final collegiate game. He
had decided that if his team was up big, he would approach coach Bo “the Nose” Pellini
and make the request. They were, and he did, and Bo said yes. After his
teammates helped him onto the field, he was able to hop on one leg to the line
of scrimmage, take the snap and then take a knee with the help of two
teammates. His dad was in tears in the stands seeing this. It was a brave badass
act, but also good sportsmanship shown by opponent Illinois State to allow this
to happen. Congrats Nathan, and good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Next week –I
will be co-hosting a tailgate with Irish Mike Iorio at Stanford when my
Fighting Irish come to town. Game time is at 1:00 p.m., tailgate starts at 9:30
a.m. We will have a brunch spread and a Bloody Mary and mimosa bar going.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

This Saturday consisted of me being in College Football Jail.
This time, the timeout was self-imposed and not Mrs. Tailgate initiated.
Original plans called for a group of us to go to the Laney Junior college game
and attempt to get ourselves on the Netflix series Last Chance U. Laney and
their opponent are so bad this season that we opted to scrap those plans and
call a homegating audible for Saturday. We of course would make a giant pot of chili with all the trimmings and share it with friendsWe did however get to attend one of the more
exciting high school games I have seen in some time on Friday night. Our Monte
Vista Mustangs sought and attained revenge against our cross-town rival San
Ramon Valley by winningon a field goal
with four seconds left in the NCS playoffs. And yes, I did storm the field with
the other kids. Next up for the Mustangs…….the #10 team in the country, the De
La Salle Spartans.

Friday Night Lights in Danville, the Stangs celebrate the big win, Mrs. Tailgate storming the field and #3 cheering them on

Around the country – College Gameday traveled to
Waco, TX for the battle of the Big 12 with one loss OU visiting the undefeated
Baylor Bears. This game was also the ABC game of the week. Baylor Jumped all
over OU from the opening bell all the way up until intermission, at one point
leading by as many as 25 points. The score was 31-10 and Baylor dominated all
facets of the game. Then the ghost of Bud Wilkinson must have entered the Sooner
locker room at halftime and given them one helleuva speech. OU was a completely
different team in the second half, having their way on offense and bottling up
the Bear offense that was so fluid in the first set. The Sooners ran off 24
unanswered points to go up on Baylor and hold the lead for an improbable 34-31
come from way behind win.Most likely
these two teams will meet next month for the Big 12 championship.

Jalen living the dream with my girl Maria Taylor

Elsewhere in
the Big 12 Iowa State kicked a game ending field goal to make the Horns go down
again. In the SEC, UGA traveled to the Plains to take on WAR Damn Eagle of
Auburn. After taking a 21-0 lead, the Dawgs held on for a 21-14 win twice
denying Auburn on potential game tying drives. In Stark Vegas, MS, the nation
witnessed the final play of Tua’s career as the Bama QB dislocated his hip. In
the Big Ten, undefeated Minnesota traveled to Iowa City still on a high from knocking
off Penn State last week. Perhaps they left some of the emotion back in
Minneapolis as the Hawkeyes were able to take the Gophers down severely
damaging their chances of making the college football playoffs. In the ACC,
Louisville continues to have an impressive season with a win over NC State making
them bowl eligible. In the Pac 12 a resurgent Oregon State wins a squeaker over
ASU in Corvallis 35-31. Navy suffered a bombardment in South Bend at the hands
of the Irish dropping their second game of the year. Boise, Memphis and App
State all notched victories keeping their New Years Six Bowl hopes alive as the
top Group of Five teams. Last, my Alma mater, the Frostburg State Bobcats
completed their inaugural season at the Division 2 level by going 8-3. This is
after decades of playing at division III level of the NCAA.

The Bolt/Munding clan travel to Wco from Norman for the game of the week

Bieber – Co-Biebers this week go to Myles Garrett of
the Cleveland Browns and Colin Kaepernick, who is unemployed. By now, we have all
seen what Garrett did Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a fit
of rage, he ripped off the helmet of Steeler QB Mason Rudolph and then swung
and connected with the top of Rudolph’s head. A melee ensued. Garrett has now
been suspended for the rest of the season and perhaps more time off and
possible criminal charges. Garrett is the Browns best player so this will hurt
well beyond his own pocketbook. The
other Ass Hat of the week, Colin “I want back in the NFL” Kaepernick begged for
and was granted a workout by the NFL at the Atlanta Falcons facility this past
Saturday. Apparently 28 teams were sending representatives to the workout. From
the onset of the invite by the NFL, it was clear that Kaepernick and his camp
had no interest in a legit tryout. The real reason was so Kaepernick could film
another commercial for Nike. The NFL acquiesced to most of his demands all the
way up until two hours before go time. This is when Camp Kaepernick decided not go to the Falcons camp as designated by
the NFL. Yet instead, he went to some high school in Atlanta and decided to YouTube
his workout with people he chose to throw to. Oh, and his Nike people were
there too. Only eight teams ended up sending
representatives. To make matters worse, he wore a shirt displaying the words Kunta
Kinteinsinuating he was a slave for
the NFL. Steven A Smith of ESPN was so disgusted he said Kap’s stated desire of
returning to the NFL is over. He wants to be a martyr, not a football player.
Kaepernick has no interest in doing anything other than making misinformed
public stances on issues he has does not have the full story on. This is not a
political blog, so we will leave it there, but he screwed the pooch on his chances.
So, both Mr. Garrett and Kaepernick may not be playing football anytime soon, but
they will be marveling at their Bieber hardware.

Ginger - Colorado State running back Josh Griffin.
Josh happens to be a 33 year-old active duty combat veteran in the Army. He has
been assigned to Special Forces and Ranger units in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He
is attending Colorado State, completing a program within the confines of the
ROTC department. While stationed at Fort Carson, CO, he was invited to a tryout
at Colorado State University. It had been 13 years since he put the pads on as a
high school senior. He was getting plenty of looks from colleges that year and
then he tore his hamstring and was a forgotten man. After a year of attending
college, he went to work for Uncle Sam. Through persistence, he joined the team
last season as a practice squad player while sorting out his NCAA eligibility.
This year, he is the senior statesmen on the team referred to as Pops by his
teammates. Although he does not see much playing time, the kids look up to him
and marvel at his physical condition. He is living his dream while also unselfishly
serving his country. Sergeant Griffin, for your persistence and patriotism, you
are a true badass and have the distinguished honor of being our Ginger awardee
this week.

Next Week – I am heading to Lubbock, TXas the Kansas State Wildcats will be visiting
the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This will be another first-time venue for me. I
will be joined by daughter #2 and other relatives for the festivities

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The Minnesota Golden Gophers adopted the saying “Ski U Mah!”
over 100 years ago. Legend has it that a Minnesota rugby team lost a canoe race
to a group of American Indians. The Indians won the race and shouted out “Ski U
Mah” in celebration. The ruggers inquired as to what it meant, and they said “victory”.
So, the Minnesota rugby team adopted the slogan and it was not for another 20
years that the football squad started using it. Therefore, much like Alabama’s “Roll
Tide Roll”, Penn State’s “We Are,” and Oklahoma’s “Boomer Sooner”, the Gophers have
a saying of their own that most of the country outside of the Big Ten Conference
probably weren’t aware of. So now you know
the rest of the story!

The # 4 ranked and undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions came
to Minneapolis to take on the #17 ranked and undefeated Minnesota Golden
Gophers. I was quite perturbed last week that ESPN College Gameday did not pick
this setting to attend. Minnesota is coached by PJ Fleck, now in his third year
and recently signed to a seven-year contract extension. Fleck came from Western
Michigan University where he took that program to a New Years’ Six bowl game
before migrating to Minneapolis. He brought his own slogan of “row the boat”
with him from Kalamazoo. Simply meaning, ”all oars in the water”. Minnesota has
had several years of being decent but never great since 1941. Their greatest
player was one Bronko Nagurski who was a warrior for them almost 100 years ago.
The atmosphere in town, campus and stadium would be electric for this matchup.

I was joined by two of my close college friends and teammates,
Jim Tubby Devine and Chip Shrek Hayden. The three of us have had many colorful memories
together over the past 40 years. We did the customary familiarizing ourselves
with local establishments Friday night and ensured that proper Benjamins were distributed
to multiple houses of worship. The only knock I had was an Irish bar errrr
church that ran out of Guinness at 7 PM on a Friday night. The Bieber committee
is giving this one serious consideration.

With a kickoff of 11 AM local time, the Bronkos Boathouse
Tailgate commenced libation pouring and chow line at 8 AM. For some reason
though, we arrived a bit later than 8. Dan Lusk and Geno, their wives and Dan’s
daughter, Maria all made us feel very welcome and regaled us with stories of their
tailgate and Minnesota football. Bronkos Boathouse is a Tailgate Connect® affiliate
and their own slogan is “We have never lost a tailgate”. I would agree, as we most
certainly left there feeling like winners. The bar they use was constructed to
look like the front of a boat. There were many decorations around the 4 -tent
spread with Bronko Nagurski pictures, boat oars and of course the Bronko
Boathouse crest. Breakfast for us consisted mainly of spicy tomato juice with vegetables
in a cup and some other light -colored liquid. We did a customary Viking toast “SKOL” of something resembling
a blue dart that is their spirit of choice. Our tailgate hosts were
instrumental in bringing back tailgating to the University of Minnesota as
there was a time when it was outlawed.
They were part of a group that petitioned the university and persuaded them to
allow tailgating again. Not all heroes wear
capes! We were treated to Army parachuters jumping into the stadium from the
vantage point of the tailgate lot. After being re-awoken and fed, we made our
way into the beautiful TCF Bank stadium on the campus of the University of
Minnesota. TCF was built 10 years ago giving the Gophers their own facility for
the first time in decades after sharing the old Metrodome with the NFL Minnesota
Vikings. Capacity is about 55,000 but the seating is plenty spacious, and it
could easily hold 15,000 more if they wanted to squeeze people in like some other
stadiums who boast of having so many seats.

Bronkos Boathouse Tailgate

Rowing the boat!

From the onset of the game, the atmosphere was off the
charts. Most of the fans were decked out in their Minnesota maroon with a
smattering of Penn State white. There had not been this much anticipation for a
football game in the state of Minnesota since the days of Fran Tarkenton when
he played for the Vikings. Even with an early start, the fans had plenty of
time to get primed for this marquee matchup. The Gophers scored on a 65-yard
pass play just two and a half minutes into the game on a toss from QB Tanner
Morgan to Rashod Batemen who would hook up repeatedly throughout the day. Penn
State responded with a score of their own on a 45-yard run. Minnesota would
score again, and hold serve for the next three quarters. Oh, and don’t worry,
the Minnesotans are a hearty people and as such, ample beer was served in the
stadium. On the final drive, PSU QB Sean Clifford was picked off for the third
and final time of the game as the Nittany Lions were attempting a game winning
touchdown. That interception secured a huge upset win for the Gophers and puts
them in contention for the college football playoffs now.

Larry, Moe and Curly

The majestic TCF Stadium

The students, along
with thousands of other fans and two guys in their fifties hopped over the wall
and stormed the field. The Gophers have not been this happy since that time
when they escaped Carl from Caddyshack’s attempts to exterminate them from the
Bushwood country club golf course. In the midst of it all, l ran into last week’s
Ginger awardee, 5- time cancer survivor Casey O’Brien and slapped him on the
shoulder pads congratulating him. We made our way off the field, out of the stadium to the Buffalo Wild Wings across the street for the Bama v LSU game.

Let the celebration begin!

Around the country – In what was being billed as the
latest “game of the century”, the #2 LSU Tigers traveled to Tuscaloosa to take
on the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide. President Trump and our First Lady Melania even
attended this monumental battle and were
warmly cheered by the fans. Three weeks after having ankle surgery, All
American Alabama QB 1 Tua Bangyourdrumslowly was back in action to lead the
Tide. He would face current Heisman Front Runner Joe “Nuke Laloosh” Burrow and the explosive Tiger offense. LSU
thoroughly dominated the first half of the game all the way through the middle
of the third quarter. Then suddenly, Big Mo entered the stadium and its color
was crimson. Tua and the Tide battled back valiantly only to fall short at the
end. Final score LSU 46, Bama 41 and Epstein didn’t kill himself.

Nuke Burrow?

The Big 12
had plenty of action as Baylor and OU both squeaked out wins to set the stage
for the main event in Waco next Saturday night. Illinois came from 21 down in
the fourth quarter to upset Michigan State. The Illini are now bowl eligible.
In the Group of Five, Boise scored more points than Wyoming did on the blue
smurf turf even without their star QB Hank Bachmeier who missed another game due
to injury. Boise is now in the driver’s seat for the GoF New Years’ 6 bowl
game. In the ACC, Wake Forest may have been looking ahead to next week’s match
with Clemson and dropped their second game of the year to those Hokies up in Blacksburg,
VA as they honored their longtime outgoing Defensive Coordinator, Bud Foster.
In the PAC 12, USC soared into the Devils den in Tempe and forked them over by
beating the hell out of ASU, and thus saving coach Clay HELLton from getting
fired for now. Sun Devil coach Herm Edwards was heard screaming in Tillman’s
Tunnel after the game “Hello, you play to win the game!!!” In Service Academy news, Army rolled over
UMASS (Please leave D1A, you are a horrible program). Yankee stadium was the
scene of the top two undefeated Ivy League teams as Dartmouth came out on top
of Princeton. This game was to celebrate Princeton as one of the two teams in
the first college football game ever played 150 years ago last week. The winner
of this year’s biggest little game in America between Williams and Amherst was Williams
by a score of 31- 9.

The Koreivos in Austin

Alabama Al showing off his fashion sense.

Perennial Bieberite, neighbor John at the Colorado game.

Bieber – A
rare occasion, we have no acts egregious enough to be Bieber worthy this week. The
Bieber award is taking a week off! Although we have some usual suspects such as PAC 12 refs, Ohio State cheating again, neighbor John just being himself and brother Brian going to another random game all by his lonesome. The Bieber committee thought it best not to cheapen the award with mild infractions or stainworthy behavior.

Ginger – Boston College “Eagle Tailgaters” stalwart, US
Navy Veteran and friend Rick Gagne is sailing some stormy seas of life right
now. He is battling the awful C word and has been put on the tailgating IR list
for the season. Rick as an avid sailor and Navy Vet has certainly navigated
many challenging waters in his life which has helped prepare him for this
battle he is taking head on now. I have tailgated with Rick in many cities and
he is just a one of kind great guy and one of the best tailgate chefs you will
meet. He has prepared everything from lobster tails to prime rib at some of the
games we have been at together We have
shared numerous stories over his favorite beer, Bud Light. Well Ricky, you are
one badass in life and you will set your navigational beacon on beating the
damn C word and getting back in action as soon as you can. You are this week’s
Ginger recipient buddy!

Rick on the right with Pops Leblanc and myself

Next Week – High School playoffs Friday night. Most
likely will not be going to a college game on Saturday but instead doing some
couch crunches and remote-control hand exercises while watching all the action on my big screen.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

The question was not “do you know the way to San Jose?” but
rather how the hell am I getting home after tailgating and watching the game
until after 11 PM? Thank goodness for
designated drivers with more common sense than me. The local DFT crew, Boise State
chapter, set up another epic tailgate in Spartan Village outside of CEFCU Stadium
in San Jose for the Boise/San Jose State game on Saturday. Several newcomers
had their initial DFT experience joining many veterans. Beautiful weather in
the high 70’s on another postcard perfect day complimented an already awesome setting.
As is the case when we hosta tailgate,
we had a surfeit spread consisting of chili, chicken teriyaki bowls, tamales,
meatballs, sausages, Asian noodles, cheddar jalapeno muffins, a wide variety of
chips and cookies, brownies and of course ample amounts of adult beverages. The
jet pack was fueled with more Deep Eddy Vodka flavored products, the shot ski
had many Fireball runs and tailgate games and football were played.Tailgate TV theater worked perfectly as we
were able to watch multiple games while communing and harassing one another. We
even had an exchange student from Spain who was enjoying his first college football
game at our tailgate. After a good four hours of tailgating, it was time to
break down and haul the gear to our trucks about a ¼ mile away to get into the
stadium in time for kickoff.

Fireball ski runs

A visit from Buster and the Boise Cheerleaders humoring the old guys

My favorite Bronco, daughter #1

Drubaca sighting, Big O, our Queen for the day, Greg Vella, Buster and Dan, the kids and those silly phones.

Boise was ranked #21 in the nation after experiencing their
first loss of the season two weeks ago to BYU. San Jose State is in the midst
of their best season since the days of Coach McIntyre. They had high hopes of
shocking the world by beating Boise as they have wins against Arkansas and Army
already this year. Boise’s sensational Freshman QB1 Hank Bachmeier would be
back after missing the BYU game with an injury. Young Hank is the best QB Boise
has had since Kellen Moore. CEFCU stadium has commenced with its four-year
renovation plan leaving the entire east side of the stadium without seating. In
fact, a grass hill now sits where bleachers once stood. The crowd was fired up
with an estimated attendance of 19,000 which is well above average for SJSU.
Kickoff was set for 7:30 PM with much of the nation already tucked in for the
night.

The barren field, the men and their ladies, Boise players leaving the field victorious, Dan & Bybee

The Spartans jumped out early and often on the Broncos who
looked asleep to start the game. San Jose State QB Josh Love was having no
problem picking apart the Bronco secondary with precision pass after pass
gaining huge chunks of yardage. After falling behind 14-0, the Broncos got on
the board with a score of their own on a 66-yard punt return. The teams would
trade blows until halftime with the Spartans of San Jose holding a 24-17 lead.
The second half was a different story as Bronco running back George Holani would
run freely over the Spartans scoring three second half touchdowns in addition
to one in the first half while gaining 126 yards on the night. Despite San Jose
State’s QB Josh Love having a career night with 438 yards in the air along with
2 TDs, Boise State proved to be too strong in the end. In an offensive showcase
of over 900 combined yards, the Broncos prevailed 52-42. We stayed
until the Boise players left the field after slapping hands with all the Boise
fans. Bieber considerations for all in our crew who left early! Prior to
departing for home, a subset of our group met back at my truck for what looked
like a feeding frenzy from The Walking Dead and a few more
beverages.

Around the country – ESPN Gameday made it’s first
appearance in Memphis, TN, and oh what a scene it was on the world-famous Beale
Street. By my estimate, it was the largest Gameday crowd I have seen. The
Memphis Tigers were hosting the SMU Mustangs, who were the last undefeated Group
of Five team. The nation was rewarded with an excellent game and a Tiger win by
a score of 54-48. Out in the PAC 12, Utah had an exciting come from behind win
over the Huskies of Washington in Seattle. In Big 12 action, Baylor remains
undefeated by scoring 3 more than West Virginia Thursday night in Waco. Don’t
look now, but Indiana (the basketball school) is 7-2 after dominating Northwestern
34-3. In the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party in Jacksonville, FL, the
UGA Bulldawgs bested their rivals from the University of Florida 24-17. In the
ACC, in a game that used to matter, Miami beat Florida State 27-10. The
following day, FSU head coach Willie Taggart was fired and was paid out an obscene amount of
money for essentially sucking at his job for less than two seasons.Notre Dame bounced back to edge Virginia Tech
by one point on an Ian Book TD with less than 30 seconds left on the clock. In
FCS action, Dartmouth scored on a last second “Hail Mary” bomb against Harvard, securing
a win and a share of first place in the Ivy League. In local high school action,
our Monte Vista Mustangs lost in double OT to cross town rivals San Ramon
Valley. A few controversial calls are still being discussed, but credit goes to
the victors for the win.

The battle of Danville

Bieber

As
happy as I was that ESPN Gameday went to South Dakota State and Memphis the
past two weeks for something new, I am equally disappointed at their choice for
next week. With the Minnesota Golden Gophers enjoying their best season since
Bronko Nagurski graced the gridiron there, it was hoped that ESPN would choose
Minneapolis for the first time ever. The gophers are 8-0 and ranked 13th
in the nation. They will be hosting Penn State who is also 8-0 and ranked #5 in
a classic Big Ten battle. Coach PJ Fleck even threw out a suggestion to ESPN
last week to come to the twin cities for this game. But as predictable as a Pavlovian
dog, ESPN chose for the 1,000th time to return to Tuscaloosa for the Bama v LSU
game. No disrespect to either program as they are both having excellent seasons,
but the nation has Bama fatigue and the Bama fans probably don’t care much that
Gameday will be there. Why not go someplace new that would be excited about it
and bring out huge crowds? I will go out on a limb and predict that this will be
one of ESECPN’s smallest crowds of the year. So, ESPN as a consolation for your
poor choice you get some shiny new Bieber hardware to put with your Emmys. Minnesota,
as your consolation, you get me and a few of my Frostburg State cronies. We
will be at Bronkos Boathaus Tailgate at 8 AM Saturday morning in the 18-degree
weather preparing for the 11 AM kickoff.

Ginger – This week’s Ginger goes to the funniest
coach in college football history. If you have never heard of Bob Green,
legendary former coach of the Montana Tech Ore Diggers you will now. His quotes
are simply badass and deserve proper recognition. Montana Tech plays in the
NAIA division of college football. Green was their coach for 24 years and led
them to a 140 -116-1 record. He was even a far better interview than Mike Leach
and Mike Gundy combined who are entertaining to say the least.Here is a brief snippet of some of his best
quotes: https://youtu.be/JOwGB6jwawM

Historical note –This Wednesday marks the 150th
anniversary of the first college football game ever played which pitted Rutgers
against Princeton. The game was played in New Brunswick and the home team,
Rutgers squad, won the match 6-4. It feels like to many Rutgers fans it has
been 150 years since they had a relevant season! As such, I encourage you all
on Wednesday between 5 PM and 8 PM Eastern to a hoist a beer in honor of the
greatest game ever invented. The DFT crack research team is looking into the
first documented tailgate ever. Stand by for results.

Next Week -I
will be freezing my gizzards off in Minnesota for the game with Penn State.
When I thaw out, I will recap the weekend. As they say in Minnesota Ski U Mah!

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Outlined against a blue-gray October Sky of Ann Arbor, MI,
in rode the eight horsemen of the apocalypse: Pestilence, Death, Famine, Destruction,
Flatulence, Breath, fungus and Repulsion. Otherwise, this group is known as my
gang from Seneca Valley high school, Class of 81 plus one.

The 8 horseman of the apocalypse

This would be the 6th
such year this group or part there of it have assembled for a weekend of
college football, tailgating and rehashing old tales that are probably 20%
accurate. Newcomer Garth AKA Death for the weekend, was on his inaugural trip
with us and received adequate hazing despite his size. He once knocked out a
Penn State Linebacker in Ocean City, Maryland with one punch. True Story, I was
there and encouraged it.I have known
him the longest since we started elementary school together and played on every
childhood sports team available to us. Alabama Al, Tennessee Tony, Maryland
Mayer and Michigan McCabe, LTC Jonny Quest and Vegas Timmy also mustered for
the occasion once again. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame would be visiting the
Big House of Michigan for the first time in several years. This has been a
historical matchup dating back to when Christ was a Corporal. After varying
modes of transportation and arrival times, all eight of us assembled Friday
afternoon at The Little House, two blocks from The Big House via
a Rent Like A Champion weekend rental.A tight fit for eight grown men, some more grown than others but it made
the event even ….shall we say more entertaining.

Friday night, we ritualistically consumed locally purchased
beverages and health food from Toarmina’s Pizza watching the World Series and college
football on TV. This is the first time we never actually made it into the houses
of worship in a college town on a Friday night. Is age catching up with us?After a night of being awoken by the continuous
prostrate parade, as the john was connected to my room, we arose in time for
College Gameday on TV. We were treated to another one of Chef Jonny’s
masterpieces of a breakfast consisting of fully loaded egg pie, SOS, bacon and
potatoes.

Geezervile USA

After cleanup, we made the one- mile hike in the rain to our
tailgate for the afternoon. Upon entering the tents, I was greeted by my nephews
Tailgate Nate and ANTIFA Alan and his lovely wife Emily. We would be hosted by Spot
9 Official Tailgate via Tailgate
Connect®, run by the Mortiere family who threw out a polish style
spread with the likes that I have never seen before: Pirogis, stuffed cabbage, fresh
Kielbasa, meatballs and much more accompanied by a trash can of beer and a bar serving many
spirits. The location was just off the south end of the golf course adjacent to
the stadium. The torrential rain kept us inside the tents for the most part
which were spacious enough but cozy. Toasts were made, shots were poured,
anthems were sung, football was watched on TV, and good natured ribbing was
directed at me, the lone Notre Dame fan at the tailgate. Mike Keehan from Frostburg along with his son Kevin
and brother Pat met up with us at the tailgate. After hours of brewfesting (as
we called it back in high school) and stuffing our faces, two of us trekked
over to the Big House for the game past the golf course, which doubles as a
tailgate lot on game day. The other apocalyptians biebered back to the house to
avoid rain drops and probably sip on some hot chocolate and watch Lifetime
movies.

At an ANTIFA gathering with my Nephews and Emily.

The Spot 9 Tailgate. Even they believe in horns down. Flag that Tom Herman!

The Keehan boys on top, never too young to tailgate baby and the Rockville boys.

The Brothers Mortiere holding me upright while doing the horns down!

The Irish came into the game ranked #8 in the country with
one loss and Michigan had just experienced it’s second loss of the year the
previous weekend at Penn State and was ranked #16. Kickoff was at 7:30 PM
Eastern which gave the fan base ample time to get in the spirt of things. With
Coach Harbaugh of Michigan under fire for not winning big games, it was
imperative that his squad show up on this ridiculously rainy and brisk evening.
On the other side of the field stood coach Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish
with hopes of still making the four-team college football playoff. The Big
House as Michigan Stadium is called, was surprisingly packed despite the inclement
conditions. Michigan and Notre Dame have two of the most storied programs in the
history of college football and quite the rivalry dating back more than a
century. From the opening kickoff until the final whistle, the Fighting Harboogians
of Michigan completely dominated all facets of the game. Michigan QB1 Shea
Patterson and a stable of running backs amassed over 300 yards on the ground.
The Michigan defense limited the Irish to under 200 total yards of offense.
Notre Dame’s MVP of the night goes to their Marching Band who had an
outstanding halftime performance dominating Michigan’s Band. I hate to admit
but a combination of the miserable weather, fatigue and a lackluster Notre Dame
performance drove us to the exits shortly after halftime to return to the cozy
confines of our rental house. Final score: Michigan 45, Notre Dame 14. I will
be working on de-clogging my arteries after this weekend.

Most excellent Midwest football conditions

Around the country It was a bad overall day for me as
not only did my beloved Irish get thrashed, Oklahoma was upset by Kansas State
dropping their first game of the year and hurting their playoff chances.
Additionally, Army lost to a resurgent San Jose State. My only saving grace was
my Alma Mater Frostburg State who picked up their seventh win of the season and
secured a spot in the D2 playoffs.LSU
held on to win over Auburn in a rare day game in Death Valley. In my view, LSU deserves
to be #1 at this stage based on the quality of their wins.Wisconsin has been eliminated from playoff
talk by dropping their second game in a row to the Buckeyes of Columbus, OH. In
the ACC, Louisville improved to 5-3 while dropping the Wahoos of UVA to the
same record. I hear the tailgating by the Collision Course Crew was off the
hook as usual. Oregon and Utah remain in the hunt for an outside shot at the
playoff by both notching victories out west against Cal and Washington State. SMU
remains unbeaten by gutting out a hard-fought win over Houston on Thursday
night in Houston to lead the group of five schools. In fact, ESPN College Gameday
will be at Memphis this Saturday when SMU comes to town.

Brady's Navy Tailgate. Nice "shants" the guy in the black jacket is wearing.

Ginger - Four-time cancer survivor Casey O’Brien on
the University of Minnesota Gophers football team wins this week’s top honors. During
his Freshman year of high school, Casey was diagnosed with a rare form of bone
cancer. He had multiple recurrences of this awful disease with 14 surgeries along
with chemo, only to beat it each time. After his first bout in high school, he
switched from QB to placekick holder, to minimize the potential for injury
while still being part of a team for a game he loved. Two weekends ago against
Rutgers University, he entered a game for the first time and held for not one
but two successful PATs. His team mobbed him after the first kick. This is a real
life Rudyesque story that will bring a tear to the hardest man’s eyes. He also
visits the same hospital in Minneapolis where he spent over 300 nights for
treatment. But this time his visits are to be an inspiration to young cancer
patients. Damn proud of you for what you overcame and for being so darn badass!

Next Week – The Danville DFT crew will be hosting a
tailgate at San Jose State when the Boise State Broncos come to town this Saturday
11/2 Tailgate starts at 3, game is at 7:30. We will be in Spartan Village, spot
1. I still have 6 tickets for $80 total. Friday night will be the battle of
Danville between our Monte Vista Mustangs squaring off against the San Ramon
Valley Wolverines.

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Happy Valley Saturday

Tailgate Connect

Dan From The Tailgate

DFT

I live for college football weekends. I love tailgating before and after games and absorbing the atmosphere and traditions of the host school. I am on a quest to see a game in every "real" stadium for D1A football in the country and attend as many games and Tailgates as I can. It is more fun to accomplish this with friends and family, thus the DFT Nation has grown far and wide over the last 15 years. I have also added lower Division schools as part of my annual mix. Each Season, I will travel the country and attend numerous games in college stadiums that I have not previously been to and take in the whole experience and blog about it.

I also like to hear about your game day experiences each week. But it is not just about attending different stadiums, our Tailgate has many repeat locations each year for traditional games that are just plain fun like Army- Navy. Last but not least, I am a college football polygamist. Born a Notre Dame fan, Big OU Sooners and Boise State fan. And of course I root on Army and my Alma Mater Frostburg State. Nonetheless, I love all college football and there is no such thing as a bad game.

Vote for your favorite Conference

The Birthplace of CFB

Hampden Sydney game 2014

Children Of The Corn

Colonel Reb and the boys

What is the best rivalry game in college football

Tailgate Recipe of The Week

The most delicious Slow Cooker Beer Mac & Cheese that is totally homemade, uses your favorite beer and takes your mac and cheese to a whole…

Ingredients

Meat

1 lb Beef stew meat

Produce

1 14.5 oz can Tomatoes, fire-roasted

Canned Goods

1 cup Beef broth

Pasta & Grains

8 oz Pasta noodles

Baking & Spices

2 tbsp Flour

1 tbsp Worcheshire pub burger seasoning

Dairy

3 tbsp Butter

2 cups Cheese

2 cups Milk

Beer, Wine & Liquor

1 1/2 cup Stout beer

Death Valley, SC

With legendary BC Tailgaters Pops and Rick

Flip Cup at the Tailgate

Why can't we all just get along?

Favorite College Football Movie

Gracie Girl and Dan

My littlest Tailgater!

Vote for Your favorite Team Please

Cheerleaders

Boise Cheerleaders

Yahoo College Football Pick EM

Folks, follow the instructions below and cut and paste the link at the bottom. This is a fun weekly activity to measure your picks against others. No money, just for fun and a free DFT T shirt for the winner and DFT hat for 2nd and a pen for third at the end of the season! Let me know if you have any trouble signing up.

Hello Tailgater,

Welcome to Yahoo Sports College Football Pick'em.

You have created the Private Group called The Tailgaters and the Pick Set called Dan's Winners in that group. To allow other people to join this group send them the Group ID# (5374) and the Password (dan). Remember, it is the Group ID#, not the group name, that other people must use to join your group.

You are now ready to participate in College Football Pick'em. Your goal is to select the winner of each week's slate of games.